Thread: So, where do we go from here?

Interesting topic.
In our country we have giant fights over natural resources, the exploration and exportation.
On one side of the oil debate we have the point that it is an important income source for our country.
Opposing that we have the environment, the rules surrounding the environment, and the resistance to the exportation of raw resources.
The big hot one in my area right now is a pipeline expansion leading from the oil fields in Alberta to the harbor in Vancouver.
The stand of Alberta is that the ocean belongs to all of Canada and they have the right to access it. In order to do so they need to cross the province of British Columbia. Unlike other countries in the world out environmental response system does not really exist. We also do not have clear or fair rules on what happens when oil is spilled and who has to pay what. The tankers currently going through very sensitive international waters with international fish stocks. The oil companies producing the oil are only responsible for the oil until it is loaded on ships. The shipping companies are only on the hook for the first ten million in damages. All the rest of the damages, clean up costs and compensation packages for any loss of fish stock to countries that we have treaties with are on the hook of the federal government, or the Canadian tax payer. At the same time if you are constructing a development on or near the water you must pay for the replacement of an habitat and species disrupted by the project two times. Not really that flat of a playing field. My point is that we have big money rolling through without the protection of our oceans, the fish that we have international responsibilities to protect, or the agreement of the people effected by the new development. It is long and complex and this is just the very tip of the discussion. We as a country need to protect the land and seas and find a way to allow the oil to be transported to market. Whether we decide to sell raw product or refined product is yet another discussion. If we insist upon forcing the will of one group onto another there will be conflict like we have never seen in this country. I fear there will be blood.